


The Way We Run

by Calesvol



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Gore, Body Horror, Demonic Possession, F/M, Self-Mutilation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-16 20:05:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13643493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calesvol/pseuds/Calesvol
Summary: The gods have chosen to condemn Noctis who had become possessed by a daemon, completely eradicating the prophecy and kills the Oracle. Only Ignis can stop him, but not without great personal cost to both.





	The Way We Run

Warning(s): M, blood & gore, body horror, self-mutilation

* * *

 

“He-- The disc of Cauthess. There was a report going out, I-- I think he’s there.”

The air rushed by like a wind tunnel as they sped over the highway, heedless of the speed limit that seemed wholly inconsequential here. Ignis’ gloves gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles blanched, jaw set until his temple throbbed and sleepless nights evidenced by the bags beneath his eyes that would’ve been uncharacteristic before. Before Noctis had set off on his own months ago under the cover of night, only Regis made privy as he’d given the Regalia to Noctis in the first place.

He hadn’t wanted to worry, but after Noctis’ disappearance had things begun to fall apart. At first, the eye witnesses had seen him as none other than an ordinary tourist. Perhaps asking unusual questions—to ascertain the locations of the Royal Tombs, no doubt—but nothing that erred from the norm. Even though he couldn’t fathom as to why Regis would send his only son without his Crownsguard, worry puckering Ignis’ brow.

Everything had been nearly normal in spite of it, that was—until Insomnia fell. The trio had just barely escaped with the Star of Lucis intact, what with there a bounty declared on their heads. The previous High Council, government officials and workers, and waitstaff of the Citadel had all been captured as prisoners of war or killed in the invasion.

It was not circumstances they could’ve afforded to be in.

“Iggy, next right. Somethin’ doesn’t look right here,” Gladio murmured just within earshot, Prompto lowering the map he’d been referring to with a gaping mouth. It was little wonder Gladio had noticed.

A wildfire blazed across the fields before Lestallum, they not having noticed the smoke at first from the dim skies and heavy cloud-cover. Though the air seemed charged with a coming rain, the wake of the blaze seeing a hoard of daemons and— _Astrals_.

“Iggy! Eyes on the road!” Gladio roared when they swerved an oncoming vehicle at the last possible second, the Shield almost lunging for the wheel until Ignis blinked and stared in shock before collecting himself and righting their course.

“I know where Noct is,” Ignis stated quietly, the dash light illuminating Ignis’ features hauntingly.

“You sure?” Gladio asked dubiously, brooking no room for joking.

“Yes, certain,” Ignis replied tersely, gaze glued to the road.

“...Hang in there, buddy.”

The twilight completely melted away as darkness grimly blanketed the land, the fires reflected in the undersides of the plumes of smoke polluting the air, Ignis using it as a landmark by which he drove almost directly towards were it not for the roads that didn’t allow for such a straightforward path.

The closer he neared did the dread become oppressive, silencing them all. Not even Prompto piped up to remark on the apocalyptic weather conditions, the clouds taking on a distant crimson outline through the gray.

Suddenly, from Lestallum did an enormous explosion rock the air, cacophonous, a bright light emanating from what could only be the EXINERIS power plant. “Guys, what was that?” Prompto asked nervously, blue eyes stricken as the wake of the explosion saw the lit vicinity of Lestallum wink out in mere seconds. “I think Noct’s there.”

Ignis’ breath rattled fearfully as the engine revved, speed limits be damned as they careened towards the town. Prompto was right. As much as it dredged a muck of despair in his breast, it couldn’t have been caused by a daemon.

Someone possessed by one might’ve.

Once they pulled in at the observation point, killing the engines, they emerged from the vehicle as Prompto dipped down to retrieve a flier that skittered across the empty observation point in hot summer winds. “ _All Lestallum citizens must remain in their homes by civil mandate of the Lestallum Police Force. Further instructions will be issued via flier or radio,_ ” Gladio read over his shoulder, the red glow of midnight casting everything in a surprisingly legible glow in spite of how utterly haunting it was.

“Please, we must be quiet. Noct is near,” Ignis said quietly, summoning his daggers from the Armiger as the others did the same, feeling his heart climb into his throat. Rarely was the adviser so shaken, but by the deeds that had been committed, he feared for Noctis more than he feared for himself.

Distant, daemonic roars and howls pitched over the distant horizon that caused them to balk, but they continued their traversal through the hauntingly quiet town, their lapel flashlights providing the only source of light they had.

From his periphery did a pair of crimson eyes flash past him, Ignis struck by the sight before giving chase. “Noct!” he called out, running so swiftly the others lost his trail too early to catch up. They called after them both.

He was frenzied. Never before had such a graceless fear grip him as icily as it did now. A cold sweat chilled him despite how little energy had yet been exerted. Ignis swiveled wildly whenever he so much as saw two orbs of feral red light, occasionally killing the daemon they belonged to, but not the man he’d chase through heaven and hell to save.

The yawning openness of the observation deck caused him to stop when those eyes finally possessed a human outline, that silhouette brandishing the Trident of the Oracle and grinning devilishly in the moon glow.

“Noct, please—tell me what’s wrong! What’s happened to you?”

The specter merely grinned, sadistically reveling in Ignis’ distress over the fate of his cherished friend.

_He’s mine now._

An inhuman cackling erupted from Noctis, shaking with haunting mirth despite how the voice wasn’t his, sounding as though several people were laughing at once. Suddenly cutting his own laughter off, Noctis became caught in a frozen caricature of himself while Ignis uselessly watched, head then creaking loudly to stare ghoulishly at Ignis.

“No—I will not let you have him! His soul is not yours to take!” Ignis snarled viscerally back, lips pulled back and baring his teeth. The phantom only grinned wider before lunging with inhuman speed at the adviser, the Trident catching in attrition on Ignis’ daggers, friction audible as Ignis’ arms quaked from the inhuman strength of the daemons.

 _There is nothing to take. He is lost to you, boy!_ Noctis parried the daggers and cast Ignis aside from the inertia, Ignis catching himself in a dodge roll and crouching before arcing his blades at the man. He didn’t want to harm him. In fact, he was hellbent on doing anything but. However, he had to defend himself lest there be no one to save Noctis.

Dark magic swirled malevolently with a miasma opening at Noctis’ feet and spreading. Though he walked upon the tar-like surface like water, Ignis started when he felt himself sinking. He was wise enough to know thrashing and flailing would only encourage its quickness, forcing himself to be still despite his body’s instinct to do otherwise. The substance sank him to his knees before stopping, a sharp yank proving he couldn’t yet escape it.

No, he wouldn’t panic. Not now.

The Trident was thrust towards him, the prongs menaced at his windpipe that drew an inkling of blood. Ignis forced himself to still say nothing, to not give them an opening to thrust more than just the Trident through. “Why Noct? Why him?” he questioned softly, feigning calm.

The specter grinned again. _Why not ask the Chancellor? He’d know. This was his plan, after all._

Ignis’ nostrils flared as he sucked in a breath, the fumes of the tar making him dizzy. Chancellor Izunia had begotten this? Though confusion muddied his mind, a sudden rush from Gladio saw the Shield charge with his broadsword, bringing it manfully down upon the prince who easily caught it with the Trident. “Ignis, you alright?” Gladio bellowed, the adviser taken aback.

“Hang on, Iggy, we’ve got your back!” Prompto crowed as he similarly rushed in wielding the Engine Blade, a valiant choice given Prompto knew his gun might prove too fatal. The daemon snarled and grabbed the blade by his edge, cutting into the flesh of Noctis’ hand.

 _Ingrates!_ A sudden pulse of dark energy rippled and sent Gladio and Prompto flying, both careening far before hitting solid concrete and knocking themselves out cold. Ignis recoiled on his back but caught himself before a concussive force could’ve knocked him unconscious. Collecting himself with a groan, the whiplash reeling pain, he managed to stand upright despite the tar that clung grotesquely to his person.

Silence drew over them as Noctis stood before Ignis once more, grin vanished but a dark understanding seeming to emanate from those hellion-bright eyes. Posing the Trident before him, Ignis gaped in horror as the prongs inexorably gored through his chest and it took every ounce of self-control not to hack off his own calves and all but crawl to Noctis and stop the self-mutilation.

Coughing blood, it burbled from Noctis’ lips as he gagged and heaved, shuddering as those eyes suddenly died and familiar blue met those of green, tears spilling as the shock and pain momentarily paralyzed him. “I-Iggy, help me!” the prince whimpered as the tears sluiced and mixed with the blood, dripping audibly before a growl tore from that throat and Noctis’ eyes lit up again.

_Is that what you wanted to see? Is it? Say good-bye before he’s lost to you forever!_

He still remembered. As Regis lay dying, with trembling, calloused hands had the king dropped the Ring of the Lucii on his open palm, curling in manually and tightly holding Ignis’ clutched hand with his own. To swear to deliver the Ring to Noctis. Holding back sobs for the man who had been a paternal figure to him, he swore it. He would’ve regardless for his prince.

Harming his prince was the last straw.

“Since I was a child, I swore I would defend him. By no other vow than my own—not to king, kingdom, or anyone else—I decided very young I would protect Noctis until my last breath,” Ignis uttered in a guttural low, fishing for the right chain as he produced the Ring, snapping it off as he held the Ring menacingly. “And if you believe I would allow the likes of _you_ to take him from me—“

“YOU ARE WRONG!”

This was a heat to which hell could not compare as the tar around him boiled and a massive, noxious plume of smoke misted to the sky. The possessed Noctis stumbled, bewildered, as it consumed sight of Ignis. Igneous cobalt engulfed him, scorching through his very veins.

**A blood payment will be taken. An oath must be declared. To not be of our blood will see you lost, boy. Do you seek to defend your king?**

“I don’t care! Take whatever you want—I DON’T CARE!” Ignis railed wildly, tears pouring from his eyes, “HELP ME! HELP ME SAVE NOCT!” A sob caught in his throat as florescent cobalt flared to a magmatic red, a charred texture crackling his skin as he doubled over from the sheer pain. He choked on his own breath while his eyes burned, that same hellion glow taking to them, too. He stumbled to his feet before standing defiantly, the smog lifted as holy, ancestral energy of Noctis’ line washed and drowned him in its power.

Ghostly Lucii manifested before them, the Katana of the Warrior and the phantasmal king himself standing by Ignis. One who resonated the most, who understood acutely what losing your beloved was like. Wielding the Katana of the Warrior, magic flowed through his veins as he lobbed the sword and Warp-struck Noctis, the possessed man just barely anticipating the blow as their weapons clashed.

From above, the Warrior King slashed the air and cut through Noctis, though not physically harming him. The daemons within screeched in the holy torment, the prince caterwauling brokenly. He tossed the Trident aside as it clattered and dissipated into the ether. Blackened tar coated his bare arms and chest as veins of a poisonous purple seemed to almost mockingly mirror what afflicted Ignis. The air seemed to compress as Ignis felt a Flare spell gathering, wide-eyed as it ignited and the Warrior just barely shielded him from its onslaught, tendrils of flame licking at his feet.

Just as the spell drifting sidelong, it was Noctis who came barreling like a demon from hell with talons raised to strike, smoke diffusing from him his being while he slashed hard laterally, just barely glancing from the tang of the blade and catching Ignis’ arm that bled holy ichor. Claws parried and Ignis cut a harsh uppercut that deflected the worst of the blow, grunting from the pain to ensue.

Possessed did he made a strike for him again, grazing his legs this time while Ignis cried out in pain, pleading for him to stop. Ignis lashed out with a swift roundhouse kick, sending the man back before he charged again and lunged for him with those venomous claws. Ignis just barely anticipated him as their blows struck in near unison.

Noctis glared, grinning wildly as claws grappled with the Katana, Ignis bearing baring down hard as energies conflated between them. “Again!” Ignis called as the Warrior stood straight, then slamming the very point of his katana where Noctis stood, the daemonized prince howling in pain and recoiling from the cleansing energies. He hacked and heaved, back arched with every spasmodic cough.

The Warrior stood by, enormity posed to strike again though Ignis barked at him to hold his ground. “Wait!” he ordered, walking to Noctis as he saw those same blue eyes as before, panic seizing him as he bolted and maneuvered the prince into his arms.

“Noct, it’s alright, I’m going to help you—“

Noctis began sobbing as he clutched where the daemon had forced himself to gore the Trident through, Ignis noticing in an icy pall of fear of how fatal it truly was, how close to the heart. “Iggy, I-I can’t see anything. It hurts, gods, it hurts so much—“ Noctis sobbed brokenly as tears similar fell from Ignis’ eyes.

With a trembling lower lip, he found a potion and moved to break it over him. “I-It’s alright, Noct. You’re going to be alright—“ Ignis assured in a quivering timbre, only to have Noctis stop him. The man shook his head, choking on a breath as he hacked up blood.

“’s too late,” he murmured, a deathly exhaustion in his voice. “’m gonna go now.” Noctis’ breaths rattled in his chest, Ignis staring in useless horror as they gradually slowed, heart thudding softer and softer until Ignis couldn’t hear it at all.

A long silence spanned as Ignis held Noctis, his lower lip quivering as hot tears stung from his eyes. “Noct? N-oct…?” his voice cracked, gently shaking Noctis’ lifeless body. “Noct, no, you can’t— You can’t leave me like this!” He sobbed wretchedly while grasping tightly and embracing him impossibly close to his chest, cradling and rocking his prince. “Don’t leave me. Noct, I- _I love you._ ”

The Warrior loomed over him and Ignis bristled at his presence, seconds from snarling at him to leave them be. Yet, the colossus bent his knee before them, embedding the katana into the ground as his wide-brimmed helm nearly touched his chest while Ignis could only peer with watery eyes at the past king.

Shimmery fractals suffused that glimmered over Noctis, the Warrior gradually fading away as Ignis watched while the ashen sable that corrupted Noctis’ body like rot ebbed away and drained from any open wounds, they then dispelling as black, acrid smoke while the wounds stitched themselves together in their wake. Though, the more Noctis healed, the dimmer Ignis’ sight became.

“Noct—“ he breathed with tears shedding from his eyes, the world going utterly dark.

“ _I love you._ ”

A hand touched his cheek and with painful relief did Ignis realize it was Noctis’ own, soft breath suffusing on his skin. Gathering Noctis in his arms, he murmured, over and over his profession of love. Noctis hugged him back, they both buried in each other.

Noctis was back. His prince was safe.

“I love you, too, Noct.”


End file.
